The scion of the ruling family of Rewa, Pushpraj Singh, who was a state minister in a previous Congress government and had unsuccessfully contested the 2009 parliamentary election from Rewa on a Samajwadi Party ticket, is likely to return to the Congress fold within the next few days.
According to available information, Vinod Shukla, who is the brother of high-profile minister for energy in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led state BJP government and has considerable political clout and influence in Rewa, is also in close touch with state Congress leaders and is expected to join the Congress. MP Congress seniors are keeping a close eye on the emerging situation. Insiders said prospects for elections in the Vindhya region would improve substantially once Pushpraj Singh and Vinod Shukla join the Congress bandwagon. The prospects of both of them joining the Congress within the next few days have increased, Congress insiders point out, keeping in view the closed-door meetings they have had with senior party leaders over the last few days. Mr Pushpraj Singh was a minister in the previous Digvijay Singh-led Congress government in MP between 1998 and 2003. In the 2003 Assembly elections, Mr Singh was defeated by state energy minister Rakendra Shukla. He had crossed over to the BJP for a short period in 2008 before joining the Samajwadi Party.